“Our Lord, we have heard a caller calling to faith, ‘Believe in your Lord,’ and we have believed. Our Lord, forgive us our sins, remove from us our misdeeds, and let us die among the righteous.”

And His words:

“Indeed, a group of My servants used to say, ‘Our Lord, we have believed, so forgive us and have mercy on us, for You are the best of those who show mercy.’”

“But you made them a target of mockery until they caused you to forget to remember Me.”

Similar to this is the Prophet’s earnest appeal—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—on the day of Badr, when he said:

“O Allah, fulfil for me what You have promised me.”

Likewise, the Torah relates that Allah Most High became angry with the Children of Israel, whereupon Moses began beseeching his Lord and recalling what He had promised Abraham. Thus, he appealed to Him by virtue of His earlier promise to Abraham.

An example of asking by virtue of righteous deeds is the supplication of the three men who took shelter in a cave. Each of them appealed by virtue of a great deed he had performed sincerely for Allah, because such a deed is among those Allah loves and is pleased with—a love that entails answering the one who performed it. One appealed by virtue of his dutifulness towards his parents, another by virtue of his complete chastity, and the third by virtue of his trustworthiness and kindness.

Similarly, Ibn Mas‘ūd used to say in the hours before dawn:

“O Allah, You commanded me and I obeyed You; You called me and I answered You. Now it is the hour before dawn, so forgive me.”

Another example is the report that Ibn ‘Umar used to say on al-Safā:

“O Allah, You have said—and Your word is true—‘Call upon Me; I will answer you,’ and You never break Your promise.”

The narrator then mentioned the well-known supplication that Ibn ‘Umar used to recite on al-Safā. Thus, it has become clear that a person’s words, “I ask You by such-and-such,” fall into two categories, for the preposition bi (“by”) may be used